how natural is lye?

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AlchemyandAshes said:
"I'm 39, but some days I feel 89. **** kids!"
Click to expand...

Haha! I can relate. When faced with an obstacle I think to myself, "I have 2 teenagers and a tween - I can do this!" I also like to inform said offspring that their mom has been making the world a little more awesome 1974. A year in history they cannot fathom.
 
100%Natural said:
Great points on the out of date information. I find EWG helpful with their actual product ratings. I can look at a brand of soap and its ingredients then compare it to my recipe and get a decent idea of where my bar stands.

I can't wait to check out PersonalCareTruth.com!

Here's another website worth checking out. This is one of my absolute favourites. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/h...ic-products/?gclid=CLzKlZuT6LQCFegWMgodGS0AWw

It's Canadian but applies all around I think.

I'm really glad to find some like minded people because my friends and family don't understand soap talk very well...lol.
Click to expand...

As a fellow Canadian I have to say I can't stand David Suzuki. He is an alarmist of the ninth degree. I've heard too many negative stories as to what he has done to students to make me happy with him. His views are extremely slanted and prejudiced. He only looks at one side of an issue and then rants.....

Sorry - vent over.... :Kitten Love:
 
I am part of SCA (Society For Creative Anachronism) and my local group puts on a fall demo. I wanted to show the 'olden days' process of what went into soapmaking. Beginning with ashes & water. Then straining an already combined mixture to show caustic potash. Possibly floating an fresh egg in it. And then some oils and herbs. Culminating with some handmade soap made with modern lye for sale.

Yeah, I am a glutton for punishment. LOL
 
39?!?! You are ONLY 39?!??!?!?!
and Genny is younger than you???

pppffffttttttttt...kids

I feel every one of my years right now...:sick:
 
Smee, I am with you, I am feeling old right now... I am not much older then Shawnee, but I definitely feel every one of those years ;-)
 
You know Monty Python? Have you seen the Holy Grail?!?!

Ah, welcome to my world! C'mon in & have a swig with me, then, my new friend!
You too, Badger!
 
Moonshea Botanicals said:
I am part of SCA (Society For Creative Anachronism) and my local group puts on a fall demo. I wanted to show the 'olden days' process of what went into soapmaking. Beginning with ashes & water. Then straining an already combined mixture to show caustic potash. Possibly floating an fresh egg in it. And then some oils and herbs. Culminating with some handmade soap made with modern lye for sale.

Yeah, I am a glutton for punishment. LOL
Click to expand...

I think that is a wonderful idea. There is a group in California that do that too, but I don't think they are making their own lye. Floating the egg is a great idea, that will let you know your strength of the lye and then make sure you have lots of salt there to salt your soap once it's been cooking for a bit. I would love to do this, but I would want to have a group of women who would take turns making the soap....

I really hope you do it and take pictures, lots and lots of pictures.
 
Lindy said:
I think that is a wonderful idea. There is a group in California that do that too, but I don't think they are making their own lye. Floating the egg is a great idea, that will let you know your strength of the lye and then make sure you have lots of salt there to salt your soap once it's been cooking for a bit. I would love to do this, but I would want to have a group of women who would take turns making the soap....

I really hope you do it and take pictures, lots and lots of pictures.
Click to expand...

The lye I would be making would be for demo purposes only. I might use it in my own soaps to experiment with. But otherwise I would be getting modern made caustic potash or regular lye for the soaps for sale to the public. I'd rather not take any chances with contaminants.

Yes I will be taking pictures.
 
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Smee said:
You know Monty Python? Have you seen the Holy Grail?!?!

Ah, welcome to my world! C'mon in & have a swig with me, then, my new friend!
You too, Badger!
Click to expand...

To be a medievalist ya have to know quotes from Monty Python & the Holy Grail!

"She's got huge ......tracks of land!"
"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"
"Bring out ya dead!.... I'm not dead yet! I feel happy!"
"Oh, she turned me into a newt! A newt? .....Well, I got better."
"[Benedictine Chanting]...........*whack with a wooden board to the face* [Continues Chanting]"
 
ChristineMM -- Yes, when you use modern KOH or NaOH and a properly designed recipe, the lye should all be consumed in the saponification reaction. But using a traditional "pot-ash" or "soda" lye made from leeching the lye from ashes, that is not necessarily the case. You don't know precisely how strong the lye solution is, so the results are more variable. Also there might be particles of ash left in the lye. I agree with Moonshea -- the soap would not be something I'd want to sell to the general public.
 
Moonshea Botanicals said:
To be a medievalist ya have to know quotes from Monty Python & the Holy Grail!

"She's got huge ......tracks of land!"
"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"
"Bring out ya dead!.... I'm not dead yet! I feel happy!"
"Oh, she turned me into a newt! A newt? .....Well, I got better."
"[Benedictine Chanting]...........*whack with a wooden board to the face* [Continues Chanting]"
Click to expand...


"We are the knights who say NI" is my favourite line. mostly b/c my name is Ni. haha
 
AlchemyandAshes said:
Rub it in, Genny...Rub it in...:evil:

I prefer to think of myself as "vintage", like a fine wine:
"Oh, this 1973 vintage Chateau Bladdityblah will go purrrrrfect with the Truffle Oil braised Escargot!"

Doesn't that sound better than:
"I'm 39, but some days I feel 89. **** kids!"
Click to expand...

Darling, if you're vintage, I'm a veritable antique.

And yes, kids do not keep you young. They age you like nobody's business. That said, I wouldn't trade mine for the world. They are the light of my life.
 
AlchemyandAshes said:
Rub it in, Genny...Rub it in...:evil:

I prefer to think of myself as "vintage", like a fine wine:
"Oh, this 1973 vintage Chateau Bladdityblah will go purrrrrfect with the Truffle Oil braised Escargot!"

Doesn't that sound better than:
"I'm 39, but some days I feel 89. **** kids!"
Click to expand...

You're not the only vintage one here then :D
 

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